A Joint Petition from the PTA and SLT of MS54: Remove Hazardous Turf from Soccer Field

Mark Levine, New York City Council Member, 7th District

If you have a child at Booker T Washington, you’ve seen them. You’ve stepped on them, swept them up and plucked them from socks fresh out of the dryer: tiny black pellets from the field adjacent to MS54 where our kids have recess and play before and after school. Now it’s time to do something about it. The PTA and SLT, in conjunction with MS54’s newly formed Wellness Council, are sponsoring a petition to the City Council for funds to replace this degraded turf with a new, eco-friendly material that is better for our kids and the environment.

But to make it happen we need your support — please sign our petition! The more signatures we gather, the greater our chances of success. A new field will benefit not only our MS54 students but the many neighborhood residents and soccer and baseball leagues who use the field frequently. 

For more information on the potential health risks of artificial turf, please review this article. 

Petition by
MS54 PTA BookerT
New York, New York

To: Mark Levine, New York City Council Member, 7th District
From: [Your Name]

Dear Councilman Levine,

We hope this letter finds you well. As chair of the Committee on Parks and Recreation, we are contacting you in connection with the Booker T. Washington soccer field located between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues and 107th and 108th Streets. As you know, this soccer turf field is used as a playground for the MS54-Booker T. Washington School and also a community park.

We are contacting you to request our soccer turf field to be removed and replaced by a new, eco-friendly material that is better for our students, residents, and the environment. Our parent body has raised concerns over the poor conditions of this soccer turf field and the hazards it poses to our students. A new field will benefit not only our MS54 students but the many neighborhood residents, youth organizations and sport organizations like soccer and baseball leagues.

Your office has received numerous pictures of our degraded soccer turf field and acknowledged the extensive degradation of our soccer turf field. Now we ask for your assistance in securing the funds to finance this improvement to the soccer field.

Thank you in advance for your help and support. A new soccer turf field will positively impact both MS54 and our surrounding community.

Sincerely,
The PTA and SLT of MS54